April 3, 2017

Hidden Jewels of Lahore - II

Sunday being a regular ‘working’ day for our cycling group
of young professionals – with this abe old hand alongside – we proceeded on
our second tour to discover some lesser known monuments of the Mughal era. This
time the destination was Mughalpura, a locale that carries its name after the
Mughal nobility and aristocracy of Lahore
which had set up an exclusive residential estate, replete with gardens, mosques
and tombs.We shall use the GT Road as a loose
dividing line between Begumpura in the north, and Mughalpura to the south, to
differentiate between the two locales

Enigma of a Strange Tomb

Starting from the Shalimar
Link Road intersection with the GT Road, and heading west, we stopped
after exactly 2.6-km and easily spotted a domed tomb just south of the road,
inside a fenced enclosure. The dilapidated state of the tomb was deplorable,
though the fascinating architectural elements of what remained were worth a
brief scrutiny.But first, we had to
settle who is the actual occupant of the tomb.

That the mandarins at the Department of Archaeology are
clueless, can be confirmed by the display of two conflicting information boards
at the entrance. One of them claims it to be the tomb of Buddhu, a brick-maker
who lived in the mid-seventeenth century; the other board says that it is the
resting place of the wife of Khan-e-Dauran Bahadur Nusrat
Jang, a favoured noble of Emperor Shah Jahan.For want of her maiden name, we shall call the
lady Nusrat Begum for this discourse.

While Buddhu’s influence to be able to muster a plot of
land amidst the prized estates of the Mughal nobility must seem outlandish, his
having left a fortune for the construction of a grandiose tomb is equally incredible.
His nearby brick kiln (Buddhu ka ava),
whose remains can still be seen, could have led to the erroneous association
with ‘Buddhu’s tomb’.

Khan-e-Dauran Bahadur Nusrat Jang was a favourite amir in Shah Jahan’s court, having
gained the goodwill of the emperor for suppressing a rebellion in Deccan. He died in 1659 and was buried in a tomb which
lies 1.5-km to the south-east of his wife’s tomb.Since his own tomb lies squarely in Pakistan
Railways lands and is not accessible to the public, some people have further added
to the mystery by assuming Nusrat Begum’s tomb to be that of her husband’s. Intriguingly, a second grave in the begum’s
tomb brings this riddle to a head. Not yet done, the enigma gets really knotty
when we learn that Khan-e-Dauran’s own tomb has been re-purposed as a mosque
and a shrine by employees of the Railways under the name of Khawaja Hasan’s,
though the Khan’s real name was Khawaja Sabir.One wouldn’t be surprised if the Railways employees yet again re-purpose
the tomb-shrine in the name of one more Khawaja!

The much ado about Nusrat Begum’s tomb occupancy is less
significant, I thought, than its architectural composition which needs attention.
Square in shape, the main chamber is constructed
in massive brick masonry, with an arched opening flanked by two recessed arched
panels on all four sides, creating a baradari
effect. The low dome rests on a high
circular drum, which in turn rests on a short octagonal base, resulting in a
gradual ‘smoothening over’ from the main square structure upwards. On the whole,
the tomb has an overbearing appearance, which must have been softened somewhat by
Kashi-kari mosaic tiles, remnants of
which are visible in some portions of the dome.

Ali Mardan Khan’s Tomb

Backtracking about one kilometre from Nusrat Begum’s tomb,
we turned right, heading south on Wheatman
Road (corrupted to ‘Wehtmun’ by the Punjabis). After
about half a kilometre, we came across two boards alongside a wall, indicating
Ali Mardan Khan’s tomb and the nearby Hamid Shah Qari’s shrine. A steel gate
opened into a strange narrow vestibule with an iron lattice for a roof, all 400
metres of the way. A chowkidar, who
had done us a special favour to let us in on a Sunday (closed to public),
welcomed us heartily, for we had coordinated earlier and had promised to be
good to him.

Ali Mardan Khan was a Persian Governor of Kandahar who became a turncoat to his master,
Shah Safi I of Persia, after
having been bribed handsomely by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1638.Ali Mardan quickly found favour in the new
court as Amir-al-Umara, and was
granted governorship of Kashmir and Punjab.He is best
known for his engineering skills in various public works, including a canal
running from River Ravi to ShalimarGardens, and a similar
canal in Shahjahanabad, Delhi.
He died in 1657 and was buried in the tomb that he had built for his mother.

The tomb is an imposing structure, with an octagonal main
chamber, with eight arched, deep-set alcoves, all opening to the interior.Atop the corners of the octagon once stood
Rajasthani chhatris, of which only
two survive. The dome stands on a high drum in Timurid style. We discovered a
remarkable double-shelled feature of the dome when one of the youngsters called
us from somewhere above.We followed his
calls, climbing up a special stairway, which took us to the top of the inner
dome. There we stood in the dark and dingy gap between the two domes, much like
school children who had discovered a secret passage to a treasure trove.We were surprised to see candles, a prayer
mat, and knotted ribbons on a streamer, and wondered if these were signs of transition
to a shrine. Indeed, the subterranean chamber of the tomb which houses the
grave, had been treated as a shrine – as well as a pot-smoking den – by
unscrupulous characters, the chowkidar
revealed, which is why entry to the public has been restricted.

Keen to know more about double-shelled domes, I later
learnt that these were a construction compulsion for large domes, in which the
inner dome was constructed first, allowing the supporting framework and trusses
to be placed on top of it. Thus supported, the bigger outer dome could be built
with ease.Better acoustics (for mosques
and cathedrals) was an added bonus. The smaller and relatively flatter inner
dome also simplified ceiling artwork.

About a hundred metres north of the tomb is an utterly
dilapidated gateway to the funerary garden, that once existed. It has remnants
of Kashi-kari mosaic work, and is quite similar to the one at the Gulabi Bagh
Gateway in Begumpura. The designer of the ‘Versailles of Punjab’ as ShalimarGardens have been called, deserved a
better-kept tomb complex, we thought.

Nawab Bahadur Khan Kokaltash's Tomb

Going along the Canal
Bank Road, past ZamanPark
and Royal Palm Golf Course, when a road from Garhi Shahu (left side) is
intercepted, a large domed structure can be picked up over the left shoulder.A simpler map location would place it just
outside the Railways Carriage Factory, at the southern limit of Mughalpura.

Arriving at our destination in a swarm of over a score
cyclists, and with the neighbourhood in complete awe, we went through our usual
motions of photography and a bit of adventure. Some clambered up secret
staircases and discovered another double-shelled dome, while others explored
the upper floor galleries full of graffiti that Pakistanis must always bless their
imaginary beloveds with.

The occupant of the tomb carries a long-winded title viz,
Khan-e-Jahan Nawab Bahadur Zafar Jang Kokaltash. He found favour with Emperor
Aurangzeb for capturing his recalcitrant brother Prince Dara Shikoh, who was promptly
executed for heresy.Bahadur Khan was then
put in charge of Deccan to bring matters under
control there. He also served as
Governor of Punjab. He died in 1697. He
is often confused with another Khan-e-Jahan, a nobleman in Emperor Akbar’s
court.

The tomb is octagonal in shape, with eight deep-set alcoves,
each having an entrance arch at the ground level, and another arched opening at
the upper level. The brick tomb is bereft of any outward embellishment, though
pigeon holes all over the building suggest a marble facing, since removed by, who
else but, the Sikhs! The dome is slightly higher pitched, with an inverted
lotus finial on top, giving it a more sinuous appearance than the classic
Timurid ones that we had seen earlier. The historian S M Latif wrote in 1892, that
the tomb was “surmounted by turrets with cupolas”, none of which exist today. He also mentions that the tomb was
used as a theatre for the British military officers, when the adjacent Mian Mir
locale was established as a cantonment.

We noted that the two noblemen Khan-e-Dauran and
Khan-e-Jahan were essentially loyalists to their emperors, while Ali Mardan
Khan did great public service to the Lahorites. In a fund-constrained regime,
it is the latter whose tomb deserves major renovation, while the other two
tombs could do with simple preservation, for the time being.